Stuck on Repeat
by MisguidedGhostWriter
Summary: Max's powers are backfiring on her. Now it's Chloe's turn to save Max, even if Max doesn't want to be saved. Light spoilers for the comics.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Life is Strange, and I'm making no money off this fic.**

 **Important note to the reader : This fic takes place inbetween the 1st and 2nd Life is Strange comics. If you haven't read the comics, then the only thing you need to know is that Max's powers are glitching on her, and her and Chloe are on the road. The rest isn't important to this fic. Also, the comics are really good, and I recommend reading them.**

 **This fic was edited by** **Figure08** **on 1/22/2019**

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 **Chapter 1: Control**

Max had felt a lot of terrible emotions in her life: Fear, anxiety, anger, despair. But through it all, she had felt a certain level of control. Even though she had faced the notion of death head on, even though she had uncovered dark secrets and disturbed the very nature of reality, even though she had been beaten, trapped, and abused, she had felt like she could handle it.

But now she knew the truth. She had only pulled through things because fate had let her. She didn't know what fate was, some sort of god or the whim of an uncaring universe. But whatever fate was, it was a complete jackass. She was at the mercy of that jackass. She was gifted powers beyond her control and used them to the point of burnout. And now, they were short circuiting.

She sat in the passenger seat of Chloe's car, staring out the window, refusing to show her face. Her mouth tasted like iron, and blood pooled on her lips. She listened to Chloe say "Are you getting hungry Max? We could pick something up on the road."

Max didn't answer.

"Hey," Chloe prodded. She poked Max's side in a way that would have mildly stung, had she done it once. Seeing how this was at least the eighth time, it hurt quite a bit. Max winced.

"Max?" Chloe's voice took on an edge of concern, "Are you alright? You gotta talk to me here."

"No. I don't." Max murmured. "It won't matter, nothing I say will matter."

"Hey, hey hey hey, Max, don't talk like that. We haven't even been on the road that…oh. Max,look at me."

Max sighed and turned her head to look at her friend. Bright red blood dripped down Max's shirt and stained the cotton.

"Ah, fuck." Chloe breathed.

"Just like all the other times." Max muttered. But at least, she could stop the disaster that had begun this regression. She took a deep breath.

"You'll miss the stoplight if you keep staring at me." Max informed in a dry tone. She pointed to the light up ahead turning from yellow to red.

"Shit!"

Chloe stomped on the breaks and the car screeched to a halt. Another car sped past from their left, the car that would have t-boned the pair had Max said nothing. The seatbelt dug into Max's chest as she was launched forward, and the next moment filled Max with utter dread.

"Are you getting hungry Max? We could pick something up on the road."

Max felt sick. Completely sick. There was a weight in the bottom of her stomach which seemed to absorb air meant for her lungs and turn it into poison, that threatened to climb up her throat and burn her from the inside. Tears ran and mingled with the blood. A single sob escaped her lips.

"How long will I be trapped?" She whispered to the jackass god.

"What?" Chloe asked.

"Just…stop the car, Chloe. Now. Please." Max's words were broken.

"Ya, of course," Chloe sputtered back. Her eyes were wide and her hands fumbled as she turned the wheel.

Max opened the door and stumbled out onto the shoulder. The pair had found themselves at a 4 way stop in a lonely, tree filled part of the world. The air was cold, almost icy, and it smelled of ripe blackberry bushes and pine trees. Not that Max could actually smell it, as blood was clogging her nose,but she could imagine the smell; the smell of home. Max's legs shook as she made her way over to a nearby bus stop plopped herself down, nearly blinded from tears.

Rain began to fall, hitting her arms, and chilling her to her bone.

She tried to breathe, but it was in vain. All she could manage was hysterical sobs. She wiped her tears, which only managed to spread the blood on her face.

"Hey, hey, Max!" Chloe shouted, running after her, completely at a loss. She stopped dead when she saw her friend's blood stained face. "Shit! Have you been jumping?"

Tears were Max's only reply.

"Okay, okay." Chloe sat next to Max and fumbled in her pockets. She produced some napkins which must have been sitting in the jacket awhile, as they looked quite worn. She tore one in half, putting a bit of the napkin up each of Max's nostrils. Then, she wiped Max's face clean. "Tip your head up Max, it will help."

Max tried to do as she was told. She wasn't used to this, being the one that needed saving. Chloe was usually the emotional and illogical one. But in the past year since they left the Bay, Max had watched Chloe become strong. They were both adults now.

But, as Max cried on a public bench, having her face wiped and cleaned, she felt more like a helpless toddler. The rain had picked up to a steady drizzle.

"Alright, deep breaths." Chloe said, trying her best to sound soothing, "Come on Max, tell me what-"

In an instant, Chloe was gone, along with the rain. Max gasped.

She watched Chloe's car come barreling down the road.

No.

She hoped beyond hope that Chloe would see her and stop the car, but she just kept heading towards the stoplight. Max closed her eyes and turned away as she heard the sound of screeching tires and metal on metal.

'Selfish.' Max thought 'I was selfish to leave the car!' Absolute panic gripped her. She had to fix this.

She hauled herself off the bench and walked down the road. Her legs were shaking so hard she thought they might fall off. Her breathing was out of control, she dragged in painful breath after painful breath. The rain began to fall again.

She felt extremely sick. She had to save Chloe. At any cost. She held out her hand, and turned back time.

This was her first actual attempt to turn back time for a while. She hoped she could still do it. She felt a familiar pull, an iciness around her that the crisp Washington air could never match. She rocketed backwards, a thrilling head rush. For the first time in a long time, she felt in control. She felt good.

Her control was rewarded. Once more, Chloe's car came zooming down the road. Max made sure she wasn't standing in its direct path. She waved her arms.

"Chloe!" She yelled. It was a bit off, as she still had the napkins in her nose. The car screeched to a halt. Max breathed a sigh of relief.

Chloe rolled down the window. "Max? What the hell?"

"Hey um, can I get back in the car?"

"Uh, ya, fuck. Just get in!"

Max nodded and climbed back into the passenger's seat with a grin on her bloody face. She got herself situated, and realized that she wasn't crying anymore. In fact, she felt great. Every atom inside her buzzed with life.

"Your hands are shaking." Chloe noted.

"Ya," Max laughed, somewhat hysterical. "I just saved our lives."

"By jumping." It wasn't a question. "Did you do it on purpose?"

Max pursed her lips, "It's complicated."

They approached the stoplight and watched the offending car zoom by.

Chloe scowled, "All the garbage people are out driving tonight. Just perfect."

The two drove past, and Max breathed a sigh of relief. No jumping. That was a good sign.

"So, Ms. It's Complicated," Chloe said. "Start talking."

Max inhaled, the rush from the jumping was wearing off and leaving her with a heart beating out of her chest. Her head pounded and she could hear blood rushing in her ears. "I was stuck in a time loop. That garbage person who zoomed by t-boned us, and I kept jumping back to right before it happened, on accident."

"T-boned us? Shit. Is that how you ended up out of the car?"

"No…" Max bit her lip "I tried to stop the accident by just getting out of the car, and time reset again. I was stuck. I managed to flag you down, but only after…"

"I got into the crash again." Chloe finished.

"Ya."

Chloe sighed. "Fucking perfect. Well, I'm glad we're not dead, but holy shit Max, look at you! You're covered in blood, and you're shaking, and…were you crying?"

Again, Max felt that helpless feeling, like she was a kid again. The rush of jumping was completely gone now, and the poison weight in her stomach returned.

"Just a little. I was…stuck. I couldn't do a damn thing about it. My powers just kept making me relive it all. I just…I just…" Her voice rose and new tears sprang from her eyes. "I was scared."

Max felt faint. The world around wobbled. Blood dripped onto her hands. The napkins were failing her. "I think I'm going to throw up"

"Okay."

Once more Chloe pulled over.

Max stumbled out and emptied the contents of her stomach onto some unsuspecting blackberry bushes. She looked down, and wished that she hadn't. Blood was mixed with the vomit. Hopefully just from her nose. The rain had started up, and it was pouring much more than before.

Chloe chased after, holding Max's hair back with one hand, and placing her other on Max's forehead. "You're-you're burning up." She informed.

Max wiped her lips and tried to stand, but her knees were wobbly. Chloe steadied her.

"Alright, fuck the one-year thing," Chloe said. "We have to get you better. We're finding a motel, and you're going to take it easy until you're alright."

"No, I'm fine." Max tried to insist. That weight in her stomach seemed to get heavier, a feeling of hopelessness hung in the air. She didn't want to take it easy.

"You're not Max. You need a stable place to relax until your powers stop fucking you over. I'm not giving you a choice in this."

Max's heart deflated. The rain intensified drenching both her and her blue haired guardian. Before she knew it, she was sitting in the car staring at the ceiling with two new bits of napkin shoved up her bleeding nose.

"Keep your head tipped up." Chloe said from the passenger's seat. "It will help."

They drove in verbal silence for awhile. The only noise came from the soft radio or the pounding of the rain.

Chloe finally broke the silence. "Are you getting hungry Max? We could pick something up on the road."

A jolt of terror went through her, and she quickly took in her surroundings. There was still rain.

"Ya." Max replied, still broken from her recent wave of sickness. "Something easy, like maybe soup."

Chloe nodded. "I'll take care of you."

Max felt no reassurance.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Life is Strange, and I'm making no money off this fic.**

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 **Chapter 2: No Take Backsies**

Nearly an hour of driving down long lonely roads had lead Chloe and Max to a little motel near the border of Washington and Oregon. It was a sprawling sort of place with four buildings arranged in a square. The first building had the office and a swimming pool, and the rest were dedicated to rooms. Fresh blue paint adorned the walls, and well tended flowers grew in pots hanging from banisters.

Max stood outside the office building staring at a patch of fake grass. She crouched down to get a proper look at it. The stuff was plastic and wirary and felt smooth to the touch.

"Whatcha looking at?" Chloe asked.

"That." Max pointed to the corner of the patch where real grass was growing on the outskirts. "It's trying to reclaim its territory." Max frowned. "I don't understand why anything outside a football field needs fake grass. It's just more trash clogging up the Earth."

"You're such a hippie." Chloe teased. "Come on, let's check in, it's hella cold."

"I kinda like it." Max murmured. "We're northwest kids, we can handle cold. We grew up in it."

"Don't give me that bullshit, I've seen you in snow. You wear like seven layers of clothes."

"Okay, let me rephrase, we can handle like, 40 degrees."

"Fair." Chloe shrugged, "but it's still too cold for me." She glanced through the office window, "They have a fireplace. You could sit and unwind."

"You can go." Max frowned, standing up and shoving her hands in her pockets. "I just need some time to myself. I need to sort out my thoughts."

Chloe bit her lip, "I just saw you puke blood on the side of the road. No offence, but I'm not letting you out of my sight for a second. Not until we know that you've stopped-"

"Jumping?" Max said, irritated. "Chloe, I don't need a babysitter. I'll be fine for two fucking seconds. Just," Max turned away, crossing her arms, "go."

"Max, I-"

"Fuck off." Max snapped the words without even thinking about them.

"Fine," Chloe glarred. " _I_ was just trying to help. But if you wanna be an asshole about it, go ahead, stand out here in the cold. See if I care." Chloe turned away and stomped into the office slamming the door and leaving Max alone with the fake grass.

For a second there was only silence. The world felt much colder. "Ah, dammit." Max whispered, "Fuck. I'm such a jackass." She pulled at her hair to the point of pain. "I should apologize or-"

"Fair." Chloe's voice rang out, making Max jump. "but it's still too cold for have a fireplace. You could sit and unwind."

Max turned once more and saw Chloe looking into the window.

Max had caused another accidental rewind, a welcome one at that.

Max swallowed her pride. "Alright, ya." She said. "A fireplace sounds nice. It's not like I'd have much to do out here."

"Agreed." Chloe was already walking inside. But Max lingered.

Sure, the first option made Chloe upset, but Max would have been able to stay outside and think. The second option made Chloe happy, but Max would have to go in with her, and get no alone time. Maybe a third option could score the best of both worlds?

She remembered what had happened earlier that day, when she stopped the car crash. It had felt great. Better than great.

Maybe…

"Are you coming?" The door to the office opened back up, Chloe stood with her hand on her hip, "Earth to Max."

Max just kept staring ahead, debating.

To jump or not to jump? It wasn't something all that important to jump for. But maybe that's why Max should do it. She wasn't particularly stressed, and it wasn't a life threatening situation, so she could control her powers easier, she could keep herself from being too strained. If she could just use her powers for little things, then she could feel that rush. She could feel good, and if she felt good then that would make her happier, which would make her easier to deal with, which would make her a better friend, which would-

"Hey," Warm hands were touching Max's cheeks. "You alright?"

Max blinked. Her rushing thoughts quieted as Chloe's face came into focus, she was beautiful, pale skin, dazzling eyes, and a worried, but loving smile on her face. Max felt a sort of safeness settle around the two and decided that jumping to get away from Chloe would be a complete betrayal. Max felt stupid for even considering it.

"Ya I'm just…" Max fumbled for words. What was she? Thinking? An asshole? A terrible friend? "fine." She decided, weakly.

"Alright, let's go." This time Chloe held Max's hand and walked her into the lobby.

Max was torn. Did this make her feel safe? Did she feel babied? Maybe a little bit of both. Like a safe baby. Fuck that.

She had to do something. She had to be an adult. On impulse Max dug into her purse and pulled out her credit card. "Here," She handed it to Chloe, "get us the best room they got. Fuck the cost."

"That's a dumb idea." Chloe said flatly.

"Says the queen of dumb ideas." Max shot back.

"Can't argue with that." Chloe shrugged. "But here's the magic question, one or two beds?"

Max felt a wayward surge of confidence, she took a step towards Chloe with a devious smile on her face. "One."

Chloe leaned in, their bodies were only inches away. Max could feel the other woman's breath, and it made every nerve in her body burn. "Be honest," Chloe's voice was silky smooth "how many rewinds did it take to get that answer right?"

"None." Max tilted her head, giving her best rogue smirk.

"One bed it is."

Max felt great as Chloe went to get the room. But Chloe's question hung in the air. " _How many rewinds did it take to get that answer right?"_

Was it the right answer?

Almost experimentally Max held out her hand, and once more the sweet icy darkness engulfed her. She felt amazing. Time itself bent for her, moving her backwards on her command.

Chloe's voice faded in from the void. "But here's the magic question, one or two beds?"

Max grinned, feeling like every atom in her body was on fire. "Let's go two." She said, stuffing her hands in her pocket and watching Chloe's face.

"Alright, just don't be shocked if I don't sleep in mine." Chloe winked.

Max gave a little smile, her head was buzzing, she felt like a kid stumbling off a rollercoaster and without even thinking about it, she held up her hand again. Once more time bent around her.

"...one or two beds?" Chloe was saying again.

"Fuck it, let's go three." Max giggled. The sound was a touch deranged.

Chloe frowned. "I'm being serious."

Max paused. Her original answer was on the tip of her tongue, but it wouldn't be the same. That little moment of closeness between Chloe and her..it was something she could stand to relive.

Once more she held out her hand.

She stopped the rewind as Chloe finished her question. As she exited the cold of the void and entered the warm room, Max felt like a young god. "One." she said confidently, stepping up to Chloe, but this time she leaned her chest forward and scrunched her arms around her boobs, showing the top of her bra through her blood stained shirt collar.

Chloe smirked, once more she stepped towards to Max.

Max felt a surge of excitement, she could kiss Chloe right now. More than kiss. Brief fantasies floated through her mind of all the things they could do here in this room with a romantic fireplace, and a couch, and the table and the floor. If her nerves were burning before, now they were on fire.

"So," Chloe's voice was casual, "lots of resets on that one?"

Max blinked. "Why would you say that?"

Chloe booped Max's nose in an innocent sort of way, then pulled her finger back and held it in front of her.

It took Max's eyes a second to refocus. But she knew pretty instantly what she would see.

Blood.

"Ya…" Max answered. "three."

Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose. "Would it be too much to ask you to keep this one?"

"No. I mean...no not too much. Not no, no I won't keep it, I mean…" She gave a small cough. "I'll keep it." Max stared at the floor. "Sorry. I'm a fucking idiot."

Chloe sighed. "I don't know how to respond to that. Just...let's go check in."

Max felt too guilty to be anywhere near Chloe. Chloe probably didn't even want to look at her right now. "Alright, I'll just...I'll just go sit by the fire."

"Not happening." Chloe grabbed Max's hand. "I am keeping you close so you can't jump."

"No I-"

"Don't have a choice." Chloe finished Max's sentence.

"But my nose is bleeding, the front desk person will see." Max pulled back, but Chloe tightened her grip and kept walking.

"I don't care."

"I'm not-" Max's voice sounded desperate. "You don't have to hold my hand. I'm not a two year old!"

"Could have fooled me."

Chloe dragged Max through the opening space into the main lobby. Max's thoughts were screaming. She really couldn't get out of this one could she? She had fucked up too much. Maybe she could break free of Chloe's grasp, run back into the entry hall, and rewind time so this never happened and then...what? Her nose would magically stop bleeding? Maybe she could hide her face?

' _Yeah, that wouldn't be suspicious at all, dumb ass.'_ She thought to herself.

Though her thoughts were scattered, and loud, and running faster then they ever were before, Max heard Chloe ringing the bell at the check in desk. She heard an office door open, and saw a woman come out. She processed Chloe saying. "Yes, we would like a room please, something cheap, one bed."

The check in woman looked nervously at her, as if Max was some wayward crackhead. But she didn't say no. Chloe handed the woman Max's card, and before they knew it Max and Chloe had left the office, and were riding an elevator up to their lift was old and moved at a snail's pace.

Chloe let go of Max's hand then and leaned on one side of the elevator, observing her friend with critical eyes.

By now Max's nerves had stopped tingling. The feeling of power and control she had enjoyed was long dead.

Chloe stared at her.

Max felt unnerved. "If you're going to lecture me, get it over with."

"I'm not your mom Max." Chloe said slowly. "I'm your friend. I might be your girlfriend on who knows how many other timelines but-"

"Hey," This was an out for Max, something that she could talk about that was just as much Chloe's fault as it was her's. " If you wanted to take it to the next level then you never fucking told me! Maybe I WANT to be your girlfriend, maybe I WANT to-ah, no." She had gone too far "Shit no, I didn't mean to, fuck, I shouldn't have said that, I-" Max held out her hand, if ever a moment called for a rewind, this was it.

"Stop." Chloe's voice was forceful and chilling.

Max froze.

"No, don't you fucking dare take that back Max Caulfield." Chloe crossed the small elevator and grabbed Max's hand.

The two stared at each other. Once more Max could feel Chloe's breath. Chloe's face was unreadable in the same way that messy handwriting was. There was so much in her eyes, love, hope, fear, anger, and worry. There were so many words unsaid, and so many emotions packed into the tiny elevator that she felt like the whole room might explode.

There was a beat of silence, and the elevator opened with a small ding.


End file.
